Scientists extract pluripotent stem cells for medical use from an unexpected source… hair
If there was anything good that came from banning embryonic stem cell research during the Bush administration, is that it forced scientists to find more creative alternative solutions for acquiring other sources of stem cells for therapeutic use. Certainly, the clinical or biomedical use of either embryonic stem cells generates a lot of controversy with ethical and moral dimensions. Although the Obama administration lifted an eight year federal ban that prohibits the use of federal money to fund embryonic stem cell research, novel techniques such as single blastomere transfer and the ability to reprogram adult somatic cells to an “embryonic-like” state may show similar or better therapeutic potential compared to embryonic stem cells. Thus, these techniques may preclude the use embryonic stem cells altogether in the near future. Continue Reading »


The Mayfield Clinic and Spine Institute urges parents, camp counselors and coaches to remind young people that diving into shallow water can result in devastating and irreversible injuries to the spinal cord.
In a unique mixed media collaboration shown at the Bass Concert Hall, Jared Dunten and Marty Butler challenge the viewer to intimately experience their journey that began under the big skies of West Texas. A journey both crushing and liberating that still continues today. The two cheated death and began their fight against paralysis.
According to a study initiated by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, there are nearly 1 in 50 people living with paralysis — approximately 6 million people. That’s the same number of people as the combined populations of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. And that number is nearly 40 percent higher than previous estimates showed.